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Monday, August 4, 2008

Tool Talk - Heat Gun

As you might already know, I just spent 2 weeks in Saskatchewan visiting family and fishing on those fabulous lakes in the northern part of the province. When I get to go back home, I love hanging out with my Dad because we can talk tools together. This time we were meandering through a liquidation tool center together and we found a heat gun for $15. Good thing that my hubby had extra room in his luggage so I could take it back on the plane.

If you haven't seen one before, think industrial strength 'hair dryer.' Mine even has two settings for light and heavy blowing action. Just be careful with it because it gets red hot and can melt those lovely plastic bags that we use to cover our work in progress.

A heat gun is great for setting up a soggy bowl that feels like it may slump. It firms up my tiny teabowls so that they do not dent as I remove them from my wheel head. Even better, it speeds up the production of my popular soap dishes. I never have enough of those in stock because of the long prep time. I designed a slight curve to my soap dishes to allow a small catch basin for handmade soap residue. The only problem was that I had to let them firm up before I could attach the feet or they would lose their lovely curve. This sometimes took all day depending on the humidity and if I forgot about them while they were drying, I would find warped dishes that could only be recycled again. Thanks to my new heat gun, I can just give them a blast of hot air and they are ready to go. And thanks Dad, for shopping with me :)